Out looking for rimfire ammo with a buddy, not looking to buy guns...but stopped at a pawn shop.

There was a Smith & Wesson Model 15 that didn't look bad at all, but it was the OTHER one in the that had my interest. It was a Model 18 and it didn't look as nice as the 15. It was well worn -- not what I'd call "beaten" but it had typical wear on the exterior and some holster wear near the muzzle. Lots of crud in the typical crud-collecting spots. The timing was 100% on 5 of 6 cylinders and really close on that last one. It was not a 5-screw, but a 4. Pinned barrel and the big S&W logo on the right side of the sideplate. SN was listed with the model number and no dash next to the Model 18 stamped in there. I'm not being untruthful when I say part of me wanted to buy it -- just so I could CLEAN it. But I was interested because I knew my buddy was in the market for a K-22 and he was fully prepared to be spending around $600+ which is the going rate for them in this area. He's extremely quiet and doesn't "haggle" much for guns.

The stocks were the b-i-g stocks (I'm unsure the proper name for them) that look like the classic Magna stocks, but the big ones they put on the L-frames, and the same that originally came on my circa-'89 Model 17-6. They couldn't possibly have been original to this revolver. There was a big, ugly, gangly trigger shoe installed on it that I couldn't stand to even look at. I'm sure they were popular at one time.

The tagged price of $559 seemed high considering the amount of visible wear, but then again...K-frame .22s and Model 18's aren't the average "police trade Model 10" that come from a crate loose-packed with 48 other revolvers, either. Plus, we're in a pawn shop where no price is anything other than a rough estimate.

Guy was friendly, so I was very friendly, but still pointed out concerns and flaws to make my case. In the end, I told him I was comfortable at $400, just hoping to get him to show us a real price that was under the $559 tagged price. He came back and said he could do $450 and I said that sounded okay, except that tax would blow the budget and before I finished the sentence, he said, "that would be out the door..."

Now my buddy owns a Model 18 no-dash. We checked out the SN and it dates it to 1958. I'm not a S&W pro, far from it. I would have bet money that it was late 70s, maybe early 80s. It's quite a bit older.

IMO, he got a pretty good shooter that is FAR from pristine and is no "investment" gun, but for a decent price.

Wish I had a picture to share, I know someone will yell at me for that.

__________________Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

I have one of the newer "classic" model 18's and it it my absolute favorite firearm I own. I just ordered a wolf standard power main spring reduce power reset spring and Jerry Miculek 's DVD on S&W revolver tuning. I can't wait to see if I can improve on an already awesome trigger.

This is all well and good, but did you just leave that poor old Model 15 there right by its lonesome? Have you no compassion? You should have taken it with you, too. If you worked him down that much on the 18, you could have probably have gotten the 15 for $200.

You make a very good point. I will say however, that the two were likely "cellmates" in that pawn shop and little else. The Model 15 was in much nicer exterior shape and I truly don't believe they came from the same owner before the pawn shop.

And this probably doesn't help my side of the case any... but the Model 15 was tagged at $449, that's $110 under what they had tagged on the Model 18.

I don't know, I suppose I got tunnel vision. Perhaps I should have made a play for that Model 15. In any case...I think once you've "made hay" in a particular place, that place will always draw you back for another swing at the plate. So I'll drop in again, and if that near-dead Mark II is still laying there on it's death bed, maybe I'll take a look at it as well.

__________________Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

I've got another buddy who was also looking for a K-22 and he found his Model 18 two weeks ago at a gun show. He did a partial trade and cash to get his. He did even better than I did. The one he brought home was produced around 1971, but it's in much better shape in every direction than this 18 I found last weekend. Came in the original blue box (had to put that in there for ya, BigJimP) and it's just a GEM. That Model 18 is in awesome shape, hardly used and all original.

I was still in the pawn shop and my buddy was doing the NICS check when I called this guy up. He was at the gun show across town buying pulldown milsurp powder. I said, "If I gave you a hundred chances to guess what my buddy just bought, you wouldn't guess it."

So I told him it was a Model 18 and his first response was "How much?" and his second response was "what kind of shape is it in?!"

When I told him it was well-worn but nicely functioning, he let out a huge "WHEW! Okay, now I feel better!" He's a heckuva guy and a great friend, but he doesn't wanna be one-upped on a gun deal. His was truly a better gun and a better deal, but this one was pretty good in my estimation.

__________________Attention Brass rats and other reloaders: I really need .327 Federal Magnum brass, no lot size too small. Tell me what caliber you need and I'll see what I have to swap. PM me and we'll discuss.

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